The 2018 Rallying thread..(WRC, ERC, etc)
Discussion
E34-3.2 said:
bad move by Ogier. He will be cleaning the roads for Neuville. The only hope he has is that Neuville is not great under pressure.
I don't know that there will be a huge difference between first and second on the road, might be enough to turn the tables if they're close but its not like the advantage vs 4th or 5th on the road there. Probably more likely to be decided by a mistake than outright speed IMO.GravelBen said:
I don't know that there will be a huge difference between first and second on the road, might be enough to turn the tables if they're close but its not like the advantage vs 4th or 5th on the road there. Probably more likely to be decided by a mistake than outright speed IMO.
It is going to be a great last race. I just hope that you are right. M.sport Fiesta is not a title contender car and for some reasons, Ogier dragged it to the top. What about Loeb! that C3 is a dog.
Well the Cheviot Stages Rally on Otterburn ranges yesterday was "fun" The weather changed even within stages. There was rain, snow, low sun, even started to freeze during the last stages. As you might well expect there was a high rate of retirements and unfortunately a few who required hospital treatment.
The winners were Peter Taylor and Andrew Roughead. Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke finished second, but won the 2018 British Tarmac Championship title.
Well done to all who competed and to the marshals who stood out in all that the British weather threw at them. Also the rescue and recovery units that where kept busy throughout the day.
The winners were Peter Taylor and Andrew Roughead. Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke finished second, but won the 2018 British Tarmac Championship title.
Well done to all who competed and to the marshals who stood out in all that the British weather threw at them. Also the rescue and recovery units that where kept busy throughout the day.
E34-3.2 said:
It is going to be a great last race. I just hope that you are right. M.sport Fiesta is not a title contender car and for some reasons, Ogier dragged it to the top.
What about Loeb! that C3 is a dog.
Loeb is a freak of nature! What about Loeb! that C3 is a dog.
Mind you, he still has to come back for a WRC top-10 in his mid 50s to be like Kankkunen 
It has been such a close season, great tension! Enough of a lottery which of the top guys are going to be fastest that I'm not making any predictions... well I could, but they wouldn't be very reliable.
Looking forward to seeing Paddon back out again too, hopefully the team lets him have a good charge instead of the playing it safe for manufacturer points he's been having to do the last few rallies. Will probably depend what the others do early on whether its risk avoidance or all-or-nothing.
Edited by GravelBen on Monday 29th October 10:53
Drumroll said:
Well the Cheviot Stages Rally on Otterburn ranges yesterday was "fun" The weather changed even within stages. There was rain, snow, low sun, even started to freeze during the last stages. As you might well expect there was a high rate of retirements and unfortunately a few who required hospital treatment.
The winners were Peter Taylor and Andrew Roughead. Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke finished second, but won the 2018 British Tarmac Championship title.
Well done to all who competed and to the marshals who stood out in all that the British weather threw at them. Also the rescue and recovery units that where kept busy throughout the day.
There was quite a few out looking at the results. A friends head gasket went bit of a shame as he usually goes well on the ranges. He sent me a picture of my old car so that was nice to see it still getting used in anger. The winners were Peter Taylor and Andrew Roughead. Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke finished second, but won the 2018 British Tarmac Championship title.
Well done to all who competed and to the marshals who stood out in all that the British weather threw at them. Also the rescue and recovery units that where kept busy throughout the day.
See today that M Sport is looking to sign Loeb for 2019.
Hope it works out
Nine-time WRC champion Loeb's future remains unclear after Peugeot's decision to close his main programme in World Rallycross, although he has secured a deal to contest the 2019 Dakar Rally in a privately-run Peugeot.
Shortly after Peugeot's RX exit, which took Loeb by surprise, he claimed his first WRC win in six years by triumphing in Catalunya on the last of the three rounds he contested with Citroen in his part-time comeback programme.
PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares was quick to point out that Loeb remained under contract with Peugeot-Citroen, and Citroen CEO Linda Jackson has also intimated that Loeb could still be accommodated in an expanded WRC line-up next season.
But reigning champion team M-Sport is losing its current lead driver Sebastien Ogier to Citroen next year and team principal Malcolm Wilson has set his sights on Loeb.
"I've always been a big fan of him and what he can do," Wilson told Autosport.
"We've seen that pace and potential on the three rallies he's done again this year.
"It would be ridiculous not to talk about what could be possible now.
"Who knows what can happen, but I would be very, very interested in him coming back to our place and having a run in the car."
Loeb said the Catalunya win had emphasised he was still most at home in rallying and made him more keen to continue into 2019.
He has made clear he does not want to make a full-time WRC return, and Wilson said he was open to a part-time deal.
"I understand his reasons why he might not want to do the whole year," he said.
"But I have no doubt we could make this work for him as well as for us."
Loeb previously tested an M-Sport Ford in 2005, with an eye to joining the team in '06 when Citroen took a sabbatical.
He ultimately chose to stay on for the semi-works Kronos Racing programme that represented Citroen that season and won the title again.
"It was fantastic to see him in the car at that time," said Wilson.
"We knew what he wanted and we knew we were going to find the money to do it.
"But in the end, he wanted to stay with Citroen - I think by then he knew that 2006 would be an interim year and they made a commitment for a longer-term with the new car for 2007.
"He was a French driver in a French car with a French team."
Hope it works out
Nine-time WRC champion Loeb's future remains unclear after Peugeot's decision to close his main programme in World Rallycross, although he has secured a deal to contest the 2019 Dakar Rally in a privately-run Peugeot.
Shortly after Peugeot's RX exit, which took Loeb by surprise, he claimed his first WRC win in six years by triumphing in Catalunya on the last of the three rounds he contested with Citroen in his part-time comeback programme.
PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares was quick to point out that Loeb remained under contract with Peugeot-Citroen, and Citroen CEO Linda Jackson has also intimated that Loeb could still be accommodated in an expanded WRC line-up next season.
But reigning champion team M-Sport is losing its current lead driver Sebastien Ogier to Citroen next year and team principal Malcolm Wilson has set his sights on Loeb.
"I've always been a big fan of him and what he can do," Wilson told Autosport.
"We've seen that pace and potential on the three rallies he's done again this year.
"It would be ridiculous not to talk about what could be possible now.
"Who knows what can happen, but I would be very, very interested in him coming back to our place and having a run in the car."
Loeb said the Catalunya win had emphasised he was still most at home in rallying and made him more keen to continue into 2019.
He has made clear he does not want to make a full-time WRC return, and Wilson said he was open to a part-time deal.
"I understand his reasons why he might not want to do the whole year," he said.
"But I have no doubt we could make this work for him as well as for us."
Loeb previously tested an M-Sport Ford in 2005, with an eye to joining the team in '06 when Citroen took a sabbatical.
He ultimately chose to stay on for the semi-works Kronos Racing programme that represented Citroen that season and won the title again.
"It was fantastic to see him in the car at that time," said Wilson.
"We knew what he wanted and we knew we were going to find the money to do it.
"But in the end, he wanted to stay with Citroen - I think by then he knew that 2006 would be an interim year and they made a commitment for a longer-term with the new car for 2007.
"He was a French driver in a French car with a French team."
Epic from Loeb to win last weekend. Despite all the stats and 9 championships in a row, the lack of competition at times always made me doubt if he was the greatest of all time. But to come back at 44 and win against such a mega competitive field confirms it for me.
Great drive by Evans in the older spec Fiesta, though I do fear it's too late for him.
What's happened to Mikkelsen? He's been nowhere the last couple rounds!
Great drive by Evans in the older spec Fiesta, though I do fear it's too late for him.
What's happened to Mikkelsen? He's been nowhere the last couple rounds!
rallycross said:
What an incredible result - Loeb and Citroen together again and winning again even against the toughest competition - quite some achievement from the driver and co driver.
(Even more so in a car that is generally agreed is not a front runner and has not won for years ). Wow!
Well Meeke did win in Spain and Mexico with the C3 (Even more so in a car that is generally agreed is not a front runner and has not won for years ). Wow!
Slippydiff said:
Allyc85 said:
What's happened to Mikkelsen? He's been nowhere the last couple rounds!
I think a more pertinent question would be, what’s happened to Hyundai?There’s clearly a problem with the car, be it the transmission or the suspension. All the drivers saying it understeers like a supermarket trolley/no feeling etc etc.
Without Neuville’s huge talent, the team/car would be in the wilderness.
Laughed at Thierry blaming Evans for dragging a rock out to cause his puncture
Great drive by Evans, hopefully playing the team game and his decent results/runs before failures and offs has done enough to see him in a seat next season.
I don't think either team could see Toyota coming out of the summer break with such sweet pace and upgrades, M-Sports basic backing hasn't paid off as well as hoped, not entirely sure the new aero is better than the old one, the engine one again is minimal and as such they chose not to run it at GB.
Not sure what upgrades Citroen have made if any, simply filling the seats with finishers is working for them, of sorts.
Hyundai are a strange one, maybe they've made the minimum upgrades as the car was so good early in the season and have been caught pants down by Toyota and Sebs determination to take it from Thierry.
There was a fatality at Condroz
Meeke confirmed it in his post. Haven't seen details other than it was a co-driver. Australia is going to be epic, just a shame i'll miss most of it as the times are not good to us in the UK and my subscriptions just run out, to tight to pay £7.99 for the weekends action as not sure when i'd realistically have time to catch up on all live. RedBull tv will just have to do.
I can see a Tanak win and TN SO battling out for second and the powerstage points.
Ogier didn't want to open the road, but is obviously knows the extra point or two will potentially see him champion again. how valuable could the Sweden powerstage shenanigans prove to be along with the points inherited from Elfyn dropping places for him?
RyanTank said:
Agree with both here! Andreas has said he's not had as much seat time on testing as the rest
I'm sure he's had a heap more seat time and testing than Paddon or Sordo this year seeing as he was meant to be the new golden boy and they've only done half the events he has.Surely it takes more than just struggling with setup for a guy with his experience to be slower than WRC2 cars though? I know he (like Evans) has often been a bit inconsistent for pace (rocket one day, slug the next and doesn't seem to know why) but being that slow at times in Catalunya seemed quite odd.
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